Reverse Migration
- 30 lakh Indians are employed in the Gulf countries, says the labour ministry.
- 20 lakh are from Kerala. Mainly construction workers. Andhra Pradesh has 3.5 lakh workers, Tamil Nadu 3 lakh. The rest of the 3.5 lakh employed in the Gulf are from Punjab, Haryana and UP.
- 8 lakh will be the number of Gulf returnees nationwide in the next few months.
- 3-4 lakh Malayalees in the Gulf will return home by June, says Kerala's finance minister.
- 86 per cent more residence visas were cancelled in Jan 2009 compared to Jan 2008.
- 54,000 cancellations compared to 29,000 in the same month last year. This works out to an average of over 1,700 every day.
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The Economic Fallout
- The global economic meltdown, falling oil prices and the construction industry crash in the Gulf are cited as reasons for the massive retrenchment.
- A recent survey among expat Indians in the UAE revealed that one-third of the respondents had at least one close friend or family member who lost his/her job in the last three months.
- Annual remittances from expat Indians is $27 billion. Of this one-fifth comes from the Gulf.
- A decline in remittances will have a ripple effect on the economies of states like Kerala, AP, Tamil Nadu and Punjab.
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